For the majority of the class of 2014, applications have been submitted, and it is finally that time of the year where people who applied for early admissions are starting to hear back. And for seniors Mason Amelotte, Mauricio Narvaez, Sam Rosenberg and Matthew Khoury, this has proved to be a very remarkable process for them, as they have been admitted to four of the top schools in the country.
Mason Amelotte, the Student Council’s Treasurer and a member of the Medical Society, got the great news this past December that he had been admitted into Columbia, his dream school since middle school. Columbia, an Ivy League school with a 7.4% admission rate, found itself ranked fifth on Forbes list, higher than Harvard and nearly every other Ivy League school.
Amelotte has been involved in many incredible extracurricular activities at Jesuit since his freshman year. His freshman year, he rowed on the crew team for the first time but ended up deciding to have a more balanced extracurricular and school activities. So, he joined various groups such as the Medical Society, iPanel, Interact, 24/7, Yearbook, and Ambassadors.
This past summer, Amelotte was able to do a summer internship at UT Southwestern. This proved to be successful for the group of students that did this, and Amelotte explained that “[He] submitted [his] research abstract to Columbia, which [he] believes definitely helped [him] standout in the pool of applicants.”
For Mauricio Narvaez ’14, he is able to say something that only a select few can, that he has been admitted into Stanford University, the number one ranked school on Forbes list with an admission rate of 6.6%. Narvaez, however, did not know where he wanted to attend college until October of his senior year, after he heard where some of his friends were applying. Narvaez explained that Stanford required an interview that Narvaez believes “went well” and that the interviewer “asked questions about Jesuit, [his] extracurriculars and friends.” Stanford tries to get to know each student prior to their acceptance.
Narvaez also applied to some very well known schools, including UT Austin and UC Berkeley because his grades have been solid since his freshman year at Jesuit. His extracurricular activities, as well, were stellar including being a pianist in the Jesuit/Ursuline Orchestra, helping out in Robotics since his junior year along with Junior Classical League since freshman year, and arguably his most impressive activity, Narvaez helped design and program Android and iPhone games along with computer software.
Matthew Khoury, like Amelotte, has wanted to attend MIT since he came to Jesuit. MIT, one of the best engineering schools in the nation, has been regarded as a top college since its existence. Engineering is exactly what Khoury wants to do in college, making MIT a perfect fit, although he still applied to a few other engineering schools as well. His extracurriculars at Jesuit have included mostly building things, community service, long boarding, and even cooking. He explained that “just this past year in welding class, [he] built a frame to mount a solar panel and a meat smoker that runs on natural gas.”
Samuel Rosenberg, one of only two students going to an Ivy League school, will be majoring in mathematical economics and playing golf at one of the nation’s best schools next fall, the University of Pennsylvania. Rosenberg, like Amelotte, Narvaez and Khoury, has finished all three years so far with all A’s at Jesuit. He had several choices to play golf at but explained that “when it came down to making a final decision, I knew Penn was where I wanted to be.” Along with being a standout golfer, Rosenberg was in Student Council, Interact, Entrepreneurship Club and Big Brothers.
One thing that sets these colleges apart from any other in the country is the interview with an alumnus that all three schools require. Amelotte, Narvaez, Rosenberg and Khoury all felt their interviews went well and helped them become admitted into the college.
Stanford, MIT, Penn and Columbia have all found themselves a spot in the top ten of Forbes 6th annual ranking of America’s top colleges. With the rigorous workload that each of these schools offer and the incredibly low admission rate, this is an honor for these students who have worked their whole four years at Jesuit to make such an accomplishment.
These students will finish their senior year at Jesuit and move on to some of the best universities in the country.
